Media Players and The Design Hierarchy of Needs

Netflix and YouTube: where they succeed and fail

Hanna Marchini
Prototypr
Published in
12 min readSep 18, 2017

The Design Hierarchy of Needs is a tool to help visualize and rank the perceived needs a product must provide a user. As one travels up the pyramid, the needs grow smaller, indicating they are less important overall in the creation of a good product.

From bottom to top, the needs are: Functionality, Reliability, Usability, Proficiency, and Creativity. This hierarchy, together, is indicative of whether or not a design has a good user experience, as well as of where a design has strengths or weaknesses.

Netflix and YouTube, regardless of personal preference, are two huge media and content players/streamers. Using the Design Hierarchy of Needs, we can figure out why each service might fail where the other succeeds, and vice versa.

Functionality

A design must be able to function before anything else.

Functionality is all about the things which an app or interface is expected to do. For media players, that means showing me the movie and television series options. Quickly load my video. Pick up where it left off. Show me the basic information about each choice.

Netflix: 3/3

Netflix accomplishes, of course, the basic needs one would expect out of a media player or streaming service. It quickly loads the viewable content.

Hovering tells me the show, the episode, and how much I may have already watched

When I hover over a selection, it enlarges to show me more details about the choice. I can click on the downward arrow to find out even more information.

Clicking tells me more about the show itself and gives me additional action items

It plays my selection where I left off, shown in a progress bar.

Clicking play brings up my video to where I last left off

If Netflix couldn’t perform these functions, it would be useless to me, and in that case I wouldn’t pay a monthly fee for it— obviously not the end goal of a subscription streaming service. While it does have the occasional bad server request, overall it performs exactly as it should.

YouTube: 2/3

YouTube isn’t as bad as it used to be as far as loading content as expected and displaying it in some sort of functional layout.

Clicking on a video brings it up in the next page, but if I had started watching the video before, I’ll have to skip ahead to my previous spot. Speaking just on functionality, YouTube does as it’s supposed to: lets you watch videos, comment, subscribe, and sensibly move between pages on the site — something Netflix doesn’t really have to worry about.

The main improvement here might just be continuing to improve the buffering, although this can only be so successful with the amount of traffic YouTube has and certainly also is dependent on the user’s end with their internet connection.

Reliability

It not only works, but works again and again.

Reliability is ensuring things work the same, every time — predictability. I should be able to visit the site any time and expect the same functions. With a media player, this probably means, for the most part, that my content loads and plays without fail.

Netflix: 3/3

Netflix does a pretty good job of ensuring content loads and plays. It does not often buffer for long, generally only with very slow or suspicious WiFi. New content is added regularly but it doesn’t disrupt the predictability, as it looks and works the same as all other content. Apart from a few gimmicks, Netflix does not do anything but stream content — occasionally there are specials which can only be watched “live” or on a particular day — which ensures that the main function works a large majority of the time. It doesn’t waste time on building out a social platform for discussion, it does not offer live streams; it does one thing and it does it well.

New Arrivals have their own page to access, but are interwoven with other content seamlessly

YouTube: 2/3

YouTube is notorious for its constant buffering and slow load times, even after given ample of waiting time. I find myself often having to manually pause the autoplaying video in order to ensure it won’t stop to buffer halfway through viewing it, which sort of ruins the entire purpose and experience.

On top of buffering issues, there is also the issue of content maintenance. Since it is a site where users create and upload the content, it is obviously much more difficult to ensure the reliability. On more than one occasion I will go back to a YouTube playlist I’ve created only to find out that items have been deleted from the site and unless I have a perfect memory, I will never know what it was — certainly not without hard core digging.

That being said, with nearly 30 million visitors and 5 billion videos watched daily, YouTube does an awfully great job at maintaining reliability with its performance, and it has been improving steadily over recent years.

Usability

Your design now works consistently. The question is, can people figure out how to use it?

Usability, being the third level on the hierarchy of needs, is where some websites, apps and services are distinguished and set apart from others. It’s great if my media player instantly queues my latest binge, but not great if I don’t know how to locate what I want. A media player should have easily findable content based off what I want to watch, and would ideally include categories as well as search options.

Netflix: 2/3

Netflix has an easy and accessible nav, which includes a dropdown menu for further categorization. Being sticky, it’s always at the top of the page regardless of how far down the rabbit hole I scroll.

Categories organized by firstly most important or most frequented, then alphabetically

The search bar filters content as you type, reducing visual clutter and helping you find the most relevant item.

Search results narrow the more information is typed in the query

Home page rows of curated content (e.g. “Dramas”) have a pagination to them that allows you to browse more fully in that genre without having to leave the page itself.

The highlighted bar subtly indicates I’m on the last “page”

Less ideally, Netflix’s home page is not organized in the best way, as it is unknown what suggested sub genres will appear. It can be difficult to find something relevant, or even to find something such as the “Top Picks” genre (mine was located almost halfway down the huge home page). Taking away points for the home page organization, Netflix still has a superior usability that caters to the avid binge-watcher as much as the indecisive viewer.

YouTube: 2/3

YouTube’s usability is…okay. It also depends your purpose on using the site in the first place. Personally, I only go on for finding pretty specific things, so in that case a simple search works great. I find it isn’t so great in terms of discovering content that I like or might be interested in mainly because it considers your entire history when it selects recommended items or playlists.

There is a lot of content to get through, and there is also a lot of information on the screen at once, something that Netflix handles a bit better with the information being brought forward with additional action. Yet, it is understandable as YouTube does not have the luxury of ensuring all thumbnail images are consistent as Netflix is able to ensure.

Every video has a lot of information accompanying it

The navigation is also located on the sidebar, less conventionally than other sites, which is able to be hidden with a collapsible hamburger menu. While hamburger menus are generally lazy design, especially for desktop views, I do understand that YouTube simply has a lot of categories to put into a navigation, and I do appreciate that the menu is default to be visible as opposed to hidden.

The sidebar scrolls with the more subscriptions a user might have

A feature more recently introduced which improves the usability of the app is the three second video preview that plays when you hover over the thumbnail, making sure users know they are selecting the right video before watching.

A play button appears on hover, then gives a 3 second preview of the video

I do feel the layout could be more intuitive, but taking into consideration the vast volume of content that must be looked after, I think the new minimal design really helps users narrow in on what they need and want to see.

Proficiency

A design that allows people to do things not previously possible and to expand on basic functionality is considered to be great.

Advanced options in a media player which leads to greater proficiency and helps it stand apart from other services might include making recommendations, allowing user feedback to tailor the experience, enable user comments and discussions, or add to playlists and personalized curations.

Netflix: 2/3

Netflix offers a great recommendation service, and often uses data and feedback from these services to create their original content. I can find multiple places with minimal searching where I am offered similar content to something I am viewing or have viewed.

Recommendations on the item I am currently viewing
Recommendation category based on one item I previously watched and might want to revist
Recommendation category based on my entire watching history

Netflix also has a few places for user feedback to either get more information or take direct action in curating their experience. I can add items to My List, for later watching, and I can Like or Dislike a video to tell Netflix that I prefer some content to others.

A simple like or dislike may be too binary for some users

The Like/Dislike system, which is native to YouTube, used to be a 5 star rating system, giving a user variation in how much they felt content was for them. The lack in flexibility takes away some control for the user, even if only by appearance, and might affect how the viewer thinks their input is valued.

Netflix also has a review page for each item, where the 5 star system is still in effect, but it is not interactive in the sense of discussion generation.

I can read reviews to inform my own opinion, but I can’t offer feedback on reviews themselves

Additionally, Netflix does not allow other playlists to be created besides My List, forcing me to hunt through their pre-categorized genres in hopes of finding my desired content. Apart from the recommendation offers, Netflix does not have a great deal of advanced options. That being said, it keeps the platform to media consumption not media discussion, and I won’t fault it too much for not being something it was not intended to be.

YouTube: 3/3

YouTube is catered to the user, and here is where they are most successful as far as needs go. I can make all the playlists I want, I can favorite videos or add it to a Watch Later list with a simple button, I can like or dislike the video, I can post comments and create discussions, and maybe most importantly I can produce and publish my own content and potentially watch it grow.

YouTube is built for content sharing as much as content creation
The history playlist helps a user navigate the mass of content available on the platform

It’s not the greatest at recommending things, at least for me, because I find that I watch too much of a variety of things to get a consistent recommendation of things I would actually want to watch, but I would argue that this feature is much less important on a platform like YouTube versus a platform like Netflix

Creativity

The design can explore and create things that expand on the product itself.

Creativity in a media player might include its actual aesthetics and visual presentation, and might also include features that make it something greater than what it was originally meant to be: facilitate discussion or offer greater user control.

Netflix: 2/3

Netflix looks beautiful, inarguably. The grid system housed in all black with red accents gives me the feeling of being at the cinema while I’m actually sitting on my own couch at home. Each title card is designed to fit the vibe of the film or show, allowing you to really judge a book by its cover and become engrossed in the sheer number of choices you have.

At times overwhelming, the sheer volume of options is beautifully displayed

While there is a lot of visual information, the incorporation of the text within the image and the elimination of extra, unwanted text makes the interface seem fresh and organized.

Another creative aspect about Netflix is the über specific genres and categories that can be found on the home page.

Apart from its visual aesthetics and its sometimes wacky categories, Netflix does not do much else besides offer you content. I suppose I could include Netflix’s original content here, and it is certainly creative how they choose and come up with their movies and series, but it also is safely in the realm of media consumption.

YouTube: 3/3

YouTube is so much more than a place to for your neighbor to try to start a hit channel and get that internet stardom. While it has facilitated the explosion of the YouTube star, who earn millions of views and some even become pop culture icons, it’s also grown into a place for consuming and discovering gaming, music, politics, and more.

YouTube facilitates content creation in all different forms, most of which is free

Live streaming makes YouTube almost function like a television; I can watch someone live stream playing a game, I can watch a political debate, and I can even watch popular TV shows or cartoons if I follow the right channels.

YouTube offers a variety of apps and services (some free, some not; some available on the web, some app only)

To keep up with Netflix, YouTube brought in YouTube Red, allowing you to eliminate ads, allow for background playing, and has audio only modes. Regardless of whether I think this is something useful to me, it’s nice to have that option.

Overall, I would argue that Netflix quite successfully gets itself through Functionality, Reliability, Usability, and part way through Proficiency and Creativity. It falls short on the upper parts of the pyramid, albeit these upper sections are less important in creating a good product. That being said, while some numbers are lower, I don’t think increasing them to 3s would dramatically increase the user experience, at least personally. Netflix charges me a low monthly fee to consume as much content as I please, and it does an excellent job of feeding me more content I may like. I do not go to the site to discuss with others, and I do not look to Netflix is a technology innovator and expect much more than an easy and simple experience. The needs which Netflix scored lower on are less crucial to the overall user experience, according to the pyramid’s hierarchy.

My one suggestion for Netflix would be to allow me a bit more control in curating content for myself — whether that takes the form of allowing for multiple playlist creations or perhaps the ability to leave a simple Agree/Disagree or Like/Dislike for a member review.

However, I think YouTube scores lower on the more important needs and higher on the less important needs, which overall reduces the overall experience of the service. In this case, improving the lower scores would improve the overall score, because the improvements would be improving the basic Functionality and Reliability aspects — things which are expected from a service today, especially from a giant like YouTube. That being said, while Netflix charges a monthly fee, YouTube does not, and it does its best to make the experience the best it could be given that there is a lot of content to maintain and it only grows each day.

To improve, YouTube could, again, work on the buffering issue it often has, and could try to improve some of the layout, perhaps with a sticky top nav or by showing videos from channels I subscribe to before suggesting recommended videos.

The takeaway here is that the Design Hierarchy of Needs is an important tool to help judge where services have strengths and weaknesses. While is may not be the end-all be-all of determining an overall good user experience, it can be a pretty good indication of a design’s shortcomings. It also reminds us that now more than ever the user experience is crucial to ensuring a successful product, on a financial scale as well as in terms of a positive public image.

Published in Prototypr

Prototyping, UX Design, Front-end Development and Beyond 👾 | ✍️ Write for us https://bit.ly/apply-prototypr

No responses yet

What are your thoughts?